Aggressive Female?

[fjeeves]

Hi all, new budgie owner here.

I got my 2 budgies about 2 months ago, I believe it's one boy (Gatorade) and a girl (Blueberry). They bonded very quickly when we brought them home, cuddling, preening each other and regurgitating. However recently Blueberry underwent her first molt and started getting very aggressive. I understand that they get moody during this, but it's gotten to points where she chases Gatorade around the cage and sometimes pecks very aggressively at him or starts biting his feet when he's close by.

Other times they're completely fine, getting along as they did before. I'm concerned that he's going to get hurt. It doesn't seem to be anything in particular that triggers her anger; she'll be happy with him one second and then angry another.

In addition, the taming process has been difficult but I've been making progress. It took a while for them to eat from my hand but they have no problem eating from my palm. They haven't learned to step up yet. However recently Blueberry has also starting biting me.

I'm not sure if it's biting or beaking, since it isn't a quick and aggressive looking bite. It starts out as if she's curious about my hand, nibbling on it, and then starts getting harder and harder to the point where it's very painful. Is this biting or beaking? I should also mention that she comes to my hand to do this, and not that I go up to her.

Overall, I'm not sure if it's because she was just molting (although it seems like it's done) and she's turning out to be quite difficult. It also makes it very difficult to tame Gatorade. Is there anything in particular I'm doing wrong? I'm starting to think we might have to give her away for Gatorade's safety but I don't know if I can do that since they've bonded (and also because I do love her).

Any advice on this?

 

[LaManuka]

Welcome to you and Gatorade and Blueberry, very cute names btw!

A female budgie being bitey and difficult?? No, I won’t hear of it! No wait, that’s fairly typical actually. Female budgies can bite VERY hard for such little birds and I suspect she’s doing it because she’d like to make babies with Gatorade. She’s getting bitey because he’s not paying her enough attention, or indeed the right kind of attention! My tiny lorikeet does exactly the same thing to me because since she matured she’s more inclined to see me as her “boyfriend” rather than as her mum I wouldn’t give either one of them away if it was me, as they are clearly bonded to each other, but you may want to look into getting another cage so that they can be housed separately and Gatorade can have a refuge from the worst of Blueberry’s hormonal excesses. It will also cut down on the chances of Blueberry laying an unwanted clutch of eggs which brings with it a whole ‘nother set of complications.

Budgies are naturally quite flighty and having two will inevitably make it more challenging to tame them. Not impossible, just a bit more difficult. I’d continue to work with the friendlier one and eventually the other should come around. Have a read of the stickies under our “Budgies” forum for lots of handy information. Don’t forget that budgies are a prey animal, and to them you look like a predator, and as such they have absolutely no reason to trust you. Even so it sounds like you’re making solid progress and perhaps with some tweakage or their living arrangements you may find Gatorade becomes more confident. Blueberry may always remain a bit shy, like my Valentino, but I suspect in time and with Gatorade as her mentor, she will get more and more courageous, like my Val has done

Here is a link to a resource i hope you will find helpful, if you haven't already found it for yourself. Meanwhile some more experienced budgie keepers will probably weigh in too. I’m glad you found us and you’re reaching out, and I wish you and your pair of cuties a long and happy life together

http://www.parrotforums.com/budgies-parakeets/72068-taming-bonding-budgerigars-tips-beginners.html

 

[fjeeves]

Thanks for this! I've ordered another cage so I can separate them. Is there any good way to deal with the biting? As in should I remove my hand when she starts or should I leave it in and bear through it?

Would it also be advisable to keep them in separate cages all the time? Or just mostly when she starts acting up? I'm afraid it might be difficult to only separate them when they're fighting since they're not tamed yet and can't remove them from their cages easily.

 

[LaManuka]

Yes it does make things just that bit more tedious when they’re not tame. You may find both their behaviours change once they each have their own “territory”. Some keepers report that they are able to reunite their budgies after a period of separation, some say the it changes which is the “dominant” bird, some are simply never able to be housed together ever again because they are simply a danger to each other. These relationships and attitudes can change over time with seasonal or hormonal fluctuations so it’s important to watch how they react to the separation.

Budgies in the wild live in flocks numbering in their thousands and if two individuals don’t get along they can easily escape each other and find a friend elsewhere. They may go through dozens of unsuccessful attempts at finding a friend or a mate, but they have a big sky to move around in and plenty of flock members to try to pair off with. In an artificial situation where we expect two individuals to get along just because they’re the same species, it can result in clashing personalities and serious or even fatal injury to one or both. You may find once Blueberry’s current hormonal flush wears off that they might get along well for a time, or they may need to be separated permanently, at this stage it’s hard to predict. But for now at least if Gatorade has his own territory he will be safer - it only takes a split second for serious injury to occur and you cannot supervise them 24/7.